


Emperheral

by SSAlias



Series: Jayroy Week 2019 [2]
Category: Red Hood/Arsenal (Comics)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, brief roy/jade, mentions of the titans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21584338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SSAlias/pseuds/SSAlias
Summary: The same guy from outside the window was standing before him and every coherent thought Roy had decided that his brain needed to be vacated.
Relationships: Roy Harper/Jason Todd
Series: Jayroy Week 2019 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553746
Comments: 4
Kudos: 96





	Emperheral

**Author's Note:**

> So the prompt was "No Capes" and I cranked this out.

_ Monday, late August _

Their meeting started as a fluke. Roy had woken up before his alarm went off that morning, something that he hadn’t done since freshman year of uni. He considered going back to bed, but there was only so much time before the fall chill set in and made the walk to the bus stop a living hell. So, Roy dragged his ass out his cheap twin-sized bed and pulled on some semi-clean clothes before throwing a hat on and grabbing his bag.

The air that morning was thankfully warm and Roy felt himself smile as the morning sun covered his skin. On his way to the stop, he passed Wally, who was going for a run and talked to him for a minute about their shared honors science course. Wally assured him that he’d have his share of their project done before it was due. Then Wally made a comment about being surprised that Roy was up early, which he decided to ignore even if it stung a little to hear. It wasn’t like Wally knew Roy stayed awake until three nearly every night because all the ideas for his robotics wouldn’t shut up and the night before was the first full night of sleep Roy had gotten since summer break. Actually, getting eight hours was probably the reason he woke up early in the first place.

Roy shook the thoughts away before pulling a smile and waving Wally off. He checked his watch that he always forgets to take off and started a light jog the rest of the way to the bus stop. He nearly slipped twice thanks to the dew still on the grass that he probably shouldn’t have run through, but hey, he was only human. If he saw a shortcut, he’d take it and if that meant nearly face planting twice just to save a few seconds that would have been wasted by taking the sidewalk, then so be it.

He sat down on the bench at the bus stop and waited. There was a girl on the other end of the bench that he said good morning to, but other than that, nothing eventful happened while he waited. He did ask to borrow a hair tie from her, which she so kindly gifted to him.

He had just finished tying his hair back and placing his hat back on his head when the bus pulled up. He stood back so the girl could get on first, before boarding himself. Surprisingly, a lot of the seats were already taken up. Roy found one empty one at the back of the bus, and with a relieved sigh, took it. It wasn’t that he hated sitting with other people, it was just that it could be horribly humiliating to ask to sit with someone and then they tell you no. It had happened before. Roy was still scarred.

Somehow, Roy had managed to keep a seat all to himself by the time they got to the final stop. He was watching everyone climb onto the bus when he caught sight of someone running up to the stop.

With Roy being at a higher angle, the guy’s face was blocked by his hair. Roy didn’t know why, but his eyes followed the guy onto the bus. When he saw the mess of black hair start to climb the stairs, Roy quickly turned away and looked out the window. 

Less than a minute passed before a voice was talking to him, “Is this seat taken?”

Roy turned to meet eyes with-  _ wow _ . Roy thought,  _ pretty eyes _ . Then,  _ wow, pretty everything _ . The same guy from outside the window was standing before him and every coherent thought Roy had decided that his brain needed to be vacated. Roy never thought he had a type before, but he was starting to think brunettes in dark clothes were possibly the hottest thing in the world because the guy in front of him was really rocking his black jeans and navy blue jean jacket. 

“Hello?” The guy asked, snapping his fingers in front of Roy’s face. “You alright?” 

Roy felt his face flushed and he quickly nodded, “Y-yeah! The seat’s open, go ahead!” He rushed out. Thankfully, the other didn’t seem to mind his awkwardness and took a seat. He held his hand out with a grin, and Roy felt his heart skip a beat. He really needed to get a grip.

“I’m Jason. Lit major.”

Roy shook his hand and prayed that it wasn’t as clammy as he thought it was, “Roy. Engineering and mechanics.” 

“Nice to meet you, Roy.”

“Pleasure’s all mine,”

Jason let out a little snort as he pulled his hand away, “I don’t know about that,” he said quietly. Roy wasn’t sure if he was meant to hear that, so he didn’t comment on it.

They stayed silent for the rest of the short duration of the ride, Roy sneaking glances at Jason the whole ride before stopping when he got caught. When they arrived at the main building where the academics were held, Jason stood to get off with a quick goodbye to Roy. Before Roy could think of something impressionable or funny to say, Jason was gone. He rode the rest of the way to the engineering department with a gray cloud over his head, drenching him in raindrops made of disappointment.

_ Tuesday, late August _

The following day, Roy set his alarm early with hopes that maybe he could run into Jason again. What could he say? It was college, he was supposed to take chances and go on whims. Reasonable chances and whims of course. Oliver gave him a long lecture on how important his education was and Roy really didn’t want to hear that again. He was in his twenties for Christ’s sake. 

That being said, he was old enough to make his own decisions, had been for a while, and if he wanted to wake up a little earlier to try and flirt with a cute guy on the bus, then he damn well was going to.

So, he went through his routine, taking time to brush his hair instead of just throwing a hat on, and noting that he needed to shave soon. He even pulled on one of his nicer shirts since he didn’t have workshop straight away (and Donna said the blue color brought out his eyes). With a glance in the mirror, Roy threw his bag over his shoulder and walked to the bus stop.

He watched in anticipation as the bus rounded onto his street. He eagerly climbed on, surprising the bus driver, and taking the same seat he had the day before. He watched out the window as they neared the stop Jason was at the day before. Roy gave a quick glance around the bus and grinned in satisfaction when all the seats had at least one person in them.

Looking out the window, he was shocked to find a pair of teal eyes already watching him. He smiled with a small wave and Jason’s face broke into a grin. Roy took that as a great sign and eagerly looked to the front of the bus to wait for Jason to board. Their eyes met again and Roy was proud to admit that he didn’t look away at all.

“Engineering and mechanics,” Jason started when he walked up to Roy’s seat, “Any spare room here?”

“Be my guest, Literature,” Roy responded, moving his bag into his lap.

Jason sat next to him, pushing his windblown hair back out of his face, and Roy wouldn’t lie about finding the disheveled look attractive. He also got the random urge to kiss Jason’s forehead, which was something he had never had the urge to do, ever. 

“Were you just waiting for me or..?” Jason asked and Roy felt his cheeks heat up a little. “Kidding,” added Jason with a laugh, Unless you really were doing that, in which case I’m flattered.” 

“Well, I wasn’t  _ not  _ saving the seat for you,” Roy remarked smartly, “So, just keep that in mind.” 

The ride was once again too short for Roy’s liking. The only thing they had time to talk about was the fact that Jason was a transfer student just starting his second year. Roy learned that he was originally from Gotham and that he came to San Francisco because Gotham’s education system was pretty shit (along with everything else in the city, Jason’s words, not Roy’s). He also mentioned something about just wanting to get as far away from the city as possible and Roy couldn’t blame him. He loved Oliver, but once you get to a certain age, living with your parents becomes more of a nightmare than anything.

Before Jason got off the bus, Roy asked him, “Same seat tomorrow?”

Jason smiled at him while standing to leave, “You got it, Roy.”

_ Sunday, late August _

For the rest of the week, Roy was sure to set his alarm to wake him up so that he’d be able to meet Jason on the bus. Not only did he start every morning by seeing his unfairly attractive new friend, but he also beat everyone else to class so he was able to talk to the teacher about advice on projects.

Roy was working on one of said projects out in the courtyard since the weather was nice and he hated being cooped up for too long when a shadow was cast over him. He squinted up at the figure standing in front of him, his sunglasses disregarded for a pair of safety goggles in case the wires Roy was screwing with decided to spark. Once his eyes adjusted, he realized the figure was Jason. 

A smile broke out across Roy’s face, “Hi,” 

“Hey,” Jason greeted while sitting criss-crossed in front of Roy, “Hope I’m not bothering you,” 

“‘Course not. I’m just working on some dumb project.” 

“It looks complicated. What is it?” 

Excitedly, Roy pushed his safety goggles up and held them out to Jason. Jason placed them over his own eyes without question and Roy held up the little box he had been rewiring. “I had to take this old baby monitor and set it to be able to tune into different radio frequencies.”

“You can do that?” Jason asked curiously, peering into the back of the baby monitor at all the wires sticking out.

“Sure can! They all scan on radio frequencies, it’s just that baby monitors have their own special one, so if I can change the frequency I can change what I listen to. Kinda like changing stations on a normal radio. You know, I could probably pick up other people’s walkie-talkies or even police scanners on this thing.” Roy rambled, then stopped and looked at Jason sheepishly, “Sorry. You probably don’t care about all of that.”

Jason looked at him with a confused grin, “What are you talking about? I literally asked about it,” 

“Well, yeah but-”

“Roy,” Jason started, taking off the safety goggles and setting them on Roy’s face, “Chicks dig smart guys. If you keep talking like that, you’ll have them all over you in no time.” 

Roy let out an awkward huff of a laugh, face heating slightly at how close Jason was, “Just chicks?”

“And me,” 

_ Friday, mid September _

It was amazing how fast you could befriend someone, especially if your conversations hardly ever lasted longer than five minutes. 

Roy and Jason began sitting with each other every day, alternating between who was telling stories each day. Roy had learned a lot about Jason, he had been reading since he was little, he grew up in foster care and was able to come to college because of his high grades, and that he really loved dogs and was upset that the dorms didn’t allow them.

In turn, Jason learned that Roy had been adopted at eleven by Oliver Queen because he was a “prodigy,” but Roy had a hard time believing that sometimes. Jason also learned that liked practicing archery, which lead them into a conversation about how Jason liked to go to the shooting range sometimes. They mentioned maybe teaching each other how to use a bow and gun, and Roy wondered if he could count those meetings as dates.

It was nice, meeting a new face. Since his first year of college, Roy had been hanging around the same group of people. That group felt like it was straining as of recently though. Every day there seemed to be a new problem and Roy wasn’t quite sure how to fix it. He was voicing these worries to Jason as they walked around the courtyard near Jason’s dorm.

“Friends can’t always stay together, you know?” Jason said, “Sorry. That’s not great advice. I didn’t have too many friends growing up.” 

Roy sighed, tucking his hands in the pockets of his black and red jacket, “No, you’re right. We’ve just all been friends for so long, it’s sad to see us drift apart.” Roy turned his head to look at Jason, whose face was warmed by the orange hues of the sunset, and grinned, “At least I have you now though, right?” 

“Obviously,” Jason lightly punched Roy’s arm, his knuckles lingering a little too long before falling. He cleared his throat and Roy looked at him curiously, “Are you doing anything this weekend?” Jason asked, and Roy swore that there was just a little too much pink on Jason’s cheeks to be because of the sunset.

“I have a few projects to work on, but other than that I’m free,” he answered. He wondered if his heartbeat sounded as loud to Jason as it did to himself.

“There’s one of those new superhero movies coming out, and I remembered you said something about liking them, so I was wondering if you wanted to go,” Jason not quite asked while avoiding eye contact. Roy grinned widely and grabbed Jason’s arm excitedly.

“Yeah! That sounds great. Here, give me your phone so you can text me the time and place!” 

Jason, looking happier than Roy had ever seen him, fumbled with his phone as he pulled it out of his pocket and held it out to Roy. Roy added his name and number into Jason’s contacts, and before handing the phone back over, added a heart by his name.

Jason looked at the phone and his eyes widened a fraction before he quickly covered his surprise. “Is tomorrow okay with you?” 

“Jay, as long as we’re going together, anytime is perfect.” 

_ Sunday, late September _

“Dick, he studies birds on the side. Isn’t that the cutest? I started calling him Jaybird and he gets so shy about it. God, I feel fifteen again, it’s crazy!” Roy sighed dreamily from where he was hanging upside down off the side of Dick’s bed.

“Is this how people feel when I talk about the people I like?” 

“That depends. How do you feel?”

“Jealous,”

Roy chuckled and rolled onto the floor, “Yeah. That sounds about right,”

Dick was the first friend Roy made when he moved away from home and probably the friend he was closest to. Whenever he had something to get off his chest, Roy knew he could count on Dick to give a listening ear. Roy, of course, would always do the same when asked.

“Well, give me more details, Roy! You haven’t even told me what he looks like aside from the fact that he apparently has pretty eyes!” Dick complained, “I want to hear the details! Is he hot?”

“Duh, but he’s more than that too! I mean, sure he’s like the definition of talk, dark, and handsome, but he’s also super creative and funny and absolutely adorable- Dick, you know how you talk about love at first sight all the time and fairy tale romances and I always tell you that it’s dumb and doesn’t exist?” Roy asked and continued on before Dick could get a word in, “I understand it now.”

“Wait, seriously?” Dick exclaimed, “Roy, I have to meet this guy!” 

“Oh. I don’t know, Dick. He can be really shy-”

“Come on!” Dick whined and peered over the edge of the bed at Roy, “You haven’t been this excited about someone since...Roy, you’ve never been this excited about someone!”

Roy sat up slowly and twirled a loose strand of hair, “I guess you’re right. I’ll talk to him about it this week, okay?” 

“Great! In the meantime, let’s get this math homework done. You know how to do it right?”

Roy huffed a laugh and climbed back onto the bed, “Yeah.”

_ Wednesday, early October _

“So, is there a point to this?” Roy asked, keeping still so he wouldn’t knock the leaves off his head.

Jason grinned at him and placed another leaf atop his head. “Nope,” he picked another leaf up and placed it on Roy’s shoulder, “Well, yes actually, but you don’t need to worry about it.”

Roy stared at Jason in interest. Since their meeting two months prior, Roy had learned that sometimes Jason just needed to do small pointless things like this. Roy didn’t mind, he thought it was cute actually. So, Roy sat comfortably and let his eyes fall closed at Jason continued balancing leaves all over him.

A few minutes had passed when Jason finally spoke again. “Open your eyes,” he told Roy, and when Roy did so, he came face to face with Jason’s phone. He didn’t have time to react before the sound of a picture being taken was heard. In confusion, Roy tilted his head, causing some of the leaves to fall off and sending him into an immediate panic. 

“Shi- shoot! I’m sorry, Jay, I didn’t mean to knock them off.” Roy apologized but slowly stopped trying to place the leaves back on his head when he realized Jason wasn’t even paying attention to him. Instead, the other man was staring at his phone with a small smile on his face. “Jay?” Roy tried.

Jason looked from his phone to Roy and suddenly blushed a bright red. He locked his phone and tucked it back in his pocket. “Yeah?” Jason asked.

Roy gave him a knowing grin, “What were you looking at?”

“Oh, you know…” Jason trailed off, eyes searching around them for some sort of excuse, “Just… my new wallpaper,” he admitted, causing Roy’s grin to morph into a full-blown smile.

_ Monday, late December _

“It’s just two weeks, Roy. You’ll be fine,” Jason’s laugh sounded through the phone, “And I have a surprise for you too.”

“A Christmas present?” Roy asked hopefully.

“A Christmas present,” confirmed Jason, “I think you’ll really like it too.”

“Of course I will! If it’s from you I know I’ll love it, Jaybird!” 

_ Saturday, late January _

“Cool bow, Roy. Where’d you get it?” Jade asked from her perch on the fence.

“It was a present,” he answered simply shooting another arrow at the target. He missed. Again.

“Oh? Do tell, from who?”

“Doesn’t matter,”

_ Thursday, mid February _

The city was decorated with hearts of different shades of pink and red. The smell of cinnamon and chocolate lingered on every street corner. Roy looked to his side where Jade stood, their hands clasped together, and he smiled.

  
  


_ Friday, late October _

He didn’t hear from her again until a few weeks before his birthday. He was angry at first- she had broken his heart twice since they had met and she was about to do it a third time, but when she handed over the bundle of blankets and he looked into those wide, innocent eyes, Roy knew that she had given him a gift greater than life. So, he forgave her.

_ Sunday, five years later _

“Daddy? Who’s Jason?”

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be posting one more fic for this week and it'll be a continuation of this one so...you know


End file.
